ARTICLE: Association of Opioid Prescriptions to Children after Discharge from Surgery and New Opioid Prescription Fills in Family Members

A recent study published in The Journal of Pediatrics, led by Dr. Erica Langas and collaborators from UCSF, Andrew Lin, Yanting Luo, Rosa Rodriquez-Monguio, Sarah Clairo, Mathijs De Vaan Catherine L. Chen, and Mark Bicket from the University of Michigan, sheds light on the unintended consequences of pediatric opioid prescriptions. Using data from 76,569 pediatric surgical patients and 206,598 opioid-naive family members, researchers found a significant association between a child filling a post-surgical opioid prescription and new opioid prescriptions among their family members.

The study further found that family members living in the same household were 28% more likely to initiate opioid use within a year of a child filling a discharge opioid prescription. The likelihood increased even further with larger opioid prescriptions. Up to 50% of opioids in pediatric patients following surgery are gone unused, increasing the risk of new opioid use and misuse to family members.

This research broadens our understanding of the opioid crisis by moving beyond individual-level risk and highlighting how opioid exposure can extend to the entire household. Furthermore, this research underscores the need for more cautious opioid prescribing practices after pediatric surgery and the importance of considering household-level risks in public health policy and clinical decision-making.

Read the full study here: The Association of Opioid Prescriptions to Children after Discharge from Surgery and New Opioid Prescription Fills in Family Members – ScienceDirect